The why is no one standing up for Booker

[Guest Brian]

Wassupwitdat? Where's all the people championing Booker's cause? He's the next big thing right now and sometimes you have to ride it when it's hot. This guy never, ever wins. He hardly ever makes pay per views. But yet, he's over. He's a decent wrestler, good aside from the chinlock habit he has leftover from the Benoit series (just really isn't good at placing it), exceeded everyone's expectations as a heel, and is now in his natural face role. So where's the love?

 

Come on people.

[Guest chirs3]

The love is there - it's just disguised as NWO Hatred. Lots of people on here feel for Booker, but the discussion usually goes to X-Pac's changing match finishes. Sympathy for Booker is implied, I think.

 

Booker rules!

[Guest saturnmark4life]

If anyone needs a dork to jump around looking at his hand and screaming like a girl every move the bookerman does, give me a call.

[Guest cabbageboy]

I think most people sorta gave up on Booker a long time ago, and even now that he is getting over the WWE wouldn't ever push him. It's become a lost cause.

[Guest HartFan86]

Booker T got buried in the InVasion angle along with the rest of the guys. If Booker got this push back when he FIRST came in (Not getting squashed on PPV by Rock), then Booker would be a big player. I think the thing that killed Booker off for me was when Edge pinned him clean @ Mania. That was just saying "Thanks Booker, your now going to put over everyone."

 

The only reason Booker is still over is because with Goldust (but that's a good thing).

[Guest BionicRedneck]

Booker is actually one of the most underrated wrestlers in the WWE. A lot of people say "hasnt had a good match since best of 7 series". It's not the case.

 

He is definately one of the best all rounders the WWE has.

[Guest yomama]

No casual fans (marks) care about Booker T. Why? Because his character is stupid. His latest promo on Raw at the beginning got NO heat from the crowd. People think Booker T is just a Rock ripoff. In one of Meltzer's reports that listed ratings for each wrestler, he listed that the ratings do not go up when Booker T is on. Booker T only gets moderate heat from the crowd when he says one of his catchphrases or when he does the spinarooni. He is also at the end of his wrestling career (he is 37 years old and said a couple of years ago that he only has a "few more years left" which means he has one more year left now).

[Guest Ripper]

That rating per wrestler thing was bullshit anyway.

 

When crowds are chanting along with you...and you can pop the crowd on demand, then you are over. The promo Monday might have been dead, but when he said "So can you dig that" The entire crowd was chanting SUKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAA.

 

The guy is over, even though he has gotten the RVD/Taz push...you know, that one where you are not used or just used to get people over and the crowds still love you.

[Guest cabbageboy]

I can't think of a particularly good match Booker has EVER been in. The whole best of 7 series is one of those baffling things to me. I mean, two guys fight each other 7 (actually 8) times for the honor of facing FIT FINLAY??? Sure, there were some decent workmanlike matches in the series but nothing mindblowing.

 

Booker has a few other problems going for him. He simply doesn't have a good finisher. I can't think of a single thing he does that can feasibly put someone away. The Spinarooni is not a move, so it doesn't count.

 

A finisher is to me the key to a wrestler's success even more than a gimmick. It needs to be credible, look like it could actually put someone out (people's elbow is the bizarro exception, but Rock has the Rock Bottom too), and importantly get the win most of the time. Booker simply doesn't have that and until he develops a good finish, he won't main.

 

Out of the invaders, RVD got over quickly and Booker really didn't. It's simple: RVD has a viable finisher in the 5 Star Frog Splash.

[Guest Ripper]

RVD was winning...Booker T was made the joke........and still got over.

[Guest bob_barron]

Uh-oh don't let smarkzone see this thread.

 

Brian- I've been championing Booker T for a long time- he's always been one of my favourites and I hope they let the five time WCW Champion kick some nWo ass and get a big push. Now can you dig that-

 

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKA

[Guest Ripper]

SmarkZone doesn't like him for a whole bunch of sterotypical, borderline racist reasons anyway. Fuck him.

[Guest Zack Malibu]

I can't think of a particularly good match Booker has EVER been in. The whole best of 7 series is one of those baffling things to me. I mean, two guys fight each other 7 (actually 8) times for the honor of facing FIT FINLAY??? Sure, there were some decent workmanlike matches in the series but nothing mindblowing.

Say what you want about his charisma, but I'd rather watch Fit Finlay tear it up with Booker T. or Benoit than Buh Buh Ray Dudley or X-Pac. Finlay's one hell of a worker.

 

Booker is over, but the WWE is once again playing gunshy, afraid to pull the trigger on the push. RVD is the top RAW babyface right now, and he's being used to hype up the push of a guy whom I personally like, but is shown as being mediocre at best.

 

My fear is that with the Nash injury, there is no one left to put Booker over in this stupid NWO feud. Pac and Show are fodder guys, and HBK isn't going to (or isn't ready to) step into a ring and work a match period, let alone do the right thing and put Booker T. over. I just don't want to see Booker T. lose heat over this, and hopefully the WWE can make a smooth transition into a new feud for him. A feud with Benoit or Eddie, perhaps based on the fact that they are all trying to break through to that elusive "next level" and they're willing to tear each other apart for the chance, could be very entertaining.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Well he has the bookend. And he does it differently than the Rock. The Rock goes down with you. Booker seems to pick you up and drive you to the mat. Plus Booker goes down to his knees and plants you....the Rock lays down with you. There actually pretty different.

[Guest Brian]

"My fear is that with the Nash injury, there is no one left to put Booker over in this stupid NWO feud. Pac and Show are fodder guys, and HBK isn't going to (or isn't ready to) step into a ring and work a match period, let alone do the right thing and put Booker T. over."

 

Up until the Nash injury, I was hoping, all politics aside, that eventually they were going to find a way to make X-Pac job, than have Booker stalled with Nash for a while before beating him, and finally getting HBK to job to Booker in the end.

[Guest greeneb22]

The Book is the man what more is there to say?

[Guest AM The Kid]

I never liked Booker T until he became comic relief, I'm starting to like him more now though. SUCKAAA!

[Guest Austin3164life]

I've been a Booker T mark for quite some time now, and I have admired his charisma ever since his entry into the WWF/E. He's probably my favorite worker right now (along with Kurt Angle) and I will continue to cheer The Book, sucka. That is all.

[Guest Dangerous A]

"I think the thing that killed Booker off for me was when Edge pinned him clean @ Mania. That was just saying "Thanks Booker, your now going to put over everyone."

 

 

 

I thought Booker was killed when Rock beat him at SS and then beat him and Shane, CLEAN. That fuckin really hurt Book's credibility. Then after the Invasion ended he had a nothing feud with Austin that did nothing but hurt him and then they had Edge beat him at WM. I'm not sure anyone could make a comeback anytime soon after that burial. Thanks, Vince.

 

 

And also, while quarter hour ratings don't mean shit to smarks, they mean a ton to the people who decide who gets pushed and who doesn't, the booking team. There is also a difference between being able to pop a live crowd and being a tv or arena draw. Hogan can pop a crowd, doesn't mean that people are tuning in to see it. Hell, Dusty Rhodes can pop a crowd, but that doesn't mean we should start building main event programs around him. I am not trying to totally shit on Booker. I love him as a worker and personality. It's just that he's been saddled with Goldust, who is the worse ratings draw on Raw, which in turn effects Booker's quarter hours. Now you are starting to see why the booking team is even bothering with Booker. They see the numbers and go "Why should we push him? He isn't drawing" But take Goldie away and give him a push with some balls and then lets see some quarter hours, motherfucker!

[Guest undisputedjericho]

A finisher is to me the key to a wrestler's success even more than a gimmick. It needs to be credible, look like it could actually put someone out (people's elbow is the bizarro exception, but Rock has the Rock Bottom too), and importantly get the win most of the time. Booker simply doesn't have that and until he develops a good finish, he won't main.

Well, Hogan and Scotty Too Hotty's finishers are two of the most pathetic I've ever seen, but the crowd goes BONZO GONZO for them, don't they?

[Guest cabbageboy]

There is a difference. Scotty actually MAKES CONTACT with the worm. Hogan (in theory) at least MAKES CONTACT with the leg. The Spinarooni is a silly breakdancing move that doesn't even involve his opponent. And don't give me the book end, I know a rock bottom when I see it. He needs something new and inventive as a finish.

[Guest M Nyland]

A wrestler pretty much needs:

 

a) mic skill

B) charisma

c) a slightly advanced moveset

d) a good finisher

e) be a decent worker

 

Booker seems to have everything but the finisher part in his favor. The Kick isn't credible enough to pin someone with. If he found a way to do the Harlem Hangover or something again...then it would be cool. Otherwise I would like to see him with a "powerbomb into Bookend" type thing....where he picks the opponent up for a powerbomb and then as they come down modifies it into the Bookend. It would be cool to see on the littler guys and for the bigger guys he can use the regular Bookend or something different...my mind escapes me for anything he could do to someone bigger......maybe he can use the Scissors Kick for those guys...I don't know

[Guest Fook_Hing_Ho]

I see no problem with him using the Bookend as a finisher.

Sure, right now it's going to be seen as a Rock Bottom imitation, but not for long. A year or so down the road when Rock only shows up for a couple of shows a year and Booker is using the move every week with the announcers putting it over, the fans will see it as the Bookend first and the Rock Bottom second.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

"A year or so down the road when Rock only shows up for a couple of shows a year and Booker is using the move every week with the announcers putting it over, the fans will see it as the Bookend first and the Rock Bottom second. "

 

No they won't, things just don't work that way. When someone applies a sharpshooter, do people think of The Rock (who is active and still doing it) or do they think of Hart, Hart, and Sting? How about the Rolling Germans, is that Angle's move or Benoit's move? Angle has been using it regularly since Benoit was out.

[Guest Fook_Hing_Ho]

We think of them that way because we're smarks. Ask some casual fans who never watched wcw what a scorpion death lock is.

[Guest Jobber of the Week]

I'm a Booker fan, I just don't drone on about my favorites as much as some others do here. But I'm more eager to see Booker T in the main event than Brock or even RVD.

 

Back at the Austin eulogy show we went to, Booker was the third most over guy, behind Flair and Rock (who was a swerve anyway.) Crowd was pissed he didn't win (although you wouldn't tell because Shawn was also out there and anyone who was giving Shawn heat was usually told to shut up by some tool a few rows up. Anyway, he took some guy's sign with him after the match and there was a pop for that, too.

 

When you watch the show on TV that, Booker doesn't seem THAT over. That crazy mic system is too blame, I think.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

The guy is over, even though he has gotten the RVD/Taz push...you know, that one where you are not used or just used to get people over and the crowds still love you.

CORRECTION: He was over, before the WWE essentially pissed away whatever idea they had for him. If you take out the last couple of weeks of Raw, starting with the "Austin Eulogy" Raw, you'll notice that the pops for Booker get slightly weaker...and weaker.

 

While the number of wins for the nWo become larger....and larger.

 

Eventually, they're going to run out of funny skits (gawd, I hope not, considering that Booker T and Goldust are comedic genius) and they're going to have to push Booker T as a somewhat serious character. And while he can sometimes put together a solid three-snowflake match, you're not going to see him throwing together a technical masterpiece with anybody.

 

Booker's age and years of ring experience don't really help his cause either - nobody really cares that he's a five-time WCW champion. He's probably somewhere between the Rock and Scotty 2 Hotty....and the missing link is the Spinaroonie, SUCKAAAAAAAAAAA.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

The scissor kick is a perfectly believeable finisher which he can hit on anyone, the only reason it looks weak is cos he never wins effing matches. If he started pinning people with it, it's be over. The sweet chin music never used to be shawn's finisher in the beginning.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Booker T got buried in the InVasion angle along with the rest of the guys. If Booker got this push back when he FIRST came in (Not getting squashed on PPV by Rock), then Booker would be a big player. I think the thing that killed Booker off for me was when Edge pinned him clean @ Mania. That was just saying "Thanks Booker, your now going to put over everyone."

 

The only reason Booker is still over is because with Goldust (but that's a good thing).

Edge and Booker fought at Mania??? Jesus christ that was the worst and/or the msot hastily booked Mania in history. I don't even remember any of the matches aside from Jericho/HHH and Rock/Hogan!!!!!

 

This coming from a guy who could give you all the other WM's and Chris Jericho's entire WCW and WWF pay per view career off the top of his head.

 

Fuck X-8.

[Guest Renegade]

Ive always marked for The Book, in fact i was watching one of his WCW matches (Book vs Kaz Hayashi) and i lapped it up big time. But the WWE has had oh so many times to push him, its the fact they dont want to or they would of done it long long ago (they still could of saved him after the job to Edge). But how long are marks going to mark out for him without Book getting a credible, clean win? It wont last long.

 

And on the finisher issue, i think the Axe Kick looks credible enough (but only when Book actually drops his whole body on the neck rather than just the leg).

 

Anyone remember when Book used a missile dropkick for a finisher?